Wellness is increasingly becoming one of the key discussion points in the benefits market. That said, much of what intermediaries are deploying is in-person or paper-based solutions. I believe what is needed are digital solutions that can reach employees at scale on a daily basis.
The notable exceptions to this are the really big guns in the employee benefits market – Mercer with their Harmonise proposition and Aon, who at the beginning of July updated their offering with the launch of a new service called Well One. This is designed to help employees engage with activities that can have a significant impact on their current and future health by exploring health challenges.
Based on Aon’s global consulting framework it takes a four-step approach. The Discover module captures what the system needs to know about the individual. The Develop element then builds on Aon’s five pillars of wellbeing – Emotional, an individual’s attitudes and reactions to everyday living; Physical, which focuses on the energy needed to complete daily living tasks and make healthy lifestyle choices; Career, which identifies how to create positive work experiences that produce pride, satisfaction and value; a Social module which explores the user’s connections to others; and Financial Wellbeing. The Financial Wellbeing module is a subject that could represent an article in its own right and I may return to this on another occasion.
The third stage of the proposition is the Deliver element, which is designed to build stakeholder commitment as well as socialising strategy with the objective of creating transformation champions. This is executed using multimedia distribution and engagement channels. In the final part of the process, the Determine module provides data driven insights and ways to improve health using predictive analytics and ongoing assessment. This is analysed using Aon Centre for Innovation and Analytics (ACIA) in Singapore. Well One uses data in ways that are designed to give employers information that can be applied in the preventative phase rather than waiting until an illness or other problem occurs.
Each employee builds a health score of between one and one thousand. Anything over five hundred is considered good. This health score element is provided by Dacadoo. An individual’s health score changes daily. This is made up of lifestyle, body and mind scores which track activity. Data can be entered manually or via wearable devices. Notably the service can interact with any wearable device. A global service, it can currently support 15 languages and is designed to operate in multiple jurisdictions.
Users have a dashboard showing how their health score moves over time and offers comparative data for people within their organisation. This also tells users why their score has moved. A coaching section considers five areas Me, Coach, Track, Social and Points. The coach will talk to users before they do anything and individuals can decide how often they want to be nudged by the coach.
Individuals can choose which goals they want to focus on, for example a financial coach, exercise, hydration so they may increase their water intake, or alternatively to cut down on soft drinks or alcohol, and a range of other options. The system constantly asks questions to learn more about the user. Aon can provide employers with aggregated data across the firm and give comparison against peers in the industry.
Employers can sign up to corporate challenges where staff all try to address similar tasks. Firms decide what sort of aspects they want to include. These can then be socialised using a Facebook/Instagram-like hybrid.
The service allows employers to agree personalised reward elements that can be included and to set a budget for these. This then links to a range of benefits and discounts provided by Loylogic and individuals can decide on the benefits they wish to obtain, which can use a mixture of cash or points.
Well One is an exceptional system and the above really only gives a brief flavour of what it can do. It will be fascinating to see how other benefit firms and pension providers bring similar services to market in the near future. Aon have certain set a high bar for anyone who wants to compete with them.